Computers: Past, Present and Future

Since the time when man first learned to express how they
felt in written form, by drawing or writing, we have tried to
communicate with other people. First, it was the prehistoric man
with their conceptual cave drawings showing what animals to hunt,
how to hunt them, and how to cook them. Soon that form took to
hieroglyphics, in which the Egyptians would tell stories about
battles they had won and about new pharaohs that had been born.
This picture form soon turned in to words in which the Romans
would communicate with one another. So it went, each generation
progressed more and more, until it was the 20th
century.

In 1937 the electronic computer was
born. Computers were
in 1943 to break “the unbreakable” German Enigma codes. 1951
introduced the computer commercially. However, it wasn’t until
around 1976 when the Apple II was introduced and it was
immediately adopted by high schools, colleges, and homes. This
was the first time that people from all over really had an
opportunity to use a computer. Since that time micro processing
chips have been made, the World
Wide Web has been invented and in 1996 more than
one out of every three people have a computer in their home, and
two out of every three have one at the office.

Today, computers influence all lifestyles, and all
different types of businesses. They have become an essential part
of everyday life, from chatting, to e-mail, to commerce, to
gaming. Almost every person in the United States has had some use
on the computer. Since the technology age began, computers have
become a mainstay in American and world society as much as the
telephone, the automobile, and the television.

Almost every device has some type of computer in it.
Whether it is a cell
phone, a calculator, or a vending machine. Even things
that we take for granted most cars since the 1980’s have a
computer in it or a pacemaker. All of the advancements in
computers and technology have led up to the 21st century in which
“the greatest advances in computer technology will occur…” Mainly
in areas such as “hardware, software, communications and
networks, mobile and wireless connectivity, and
robotics.”

All lifestyles benefit from the use of computers. Small
“mom and pop” operations are now able to become global business
all thanks to the internet, in which they can provide and sell
their services to people half the world away. Relatives that live
hundreds of miles away from each other can communicate simply
with the press of a button. They can receive pictures of their
loved ones via e-mail, and can see live images of a newborn baby
with the use of a computer and a web-cam.

A businessman can sit on an airplane while on his way to a
meeting and write notes to himself without having to worry about
spilling ink. With the invention of Electronic Paper/Electronic
ink, this is now possible. “New Jersey bus driver trainees learn
to maneuver their vehicles on virtual streets. New Jersey Transit
says the virtual training saves the company thousands of dollars
each year in training costs and also reduces
accidents.”

Companies are scrambling to get smaller, faster, better
microchips that can do more with less work. For example, nobody
would have thought when Alexander Graham Bell invented the
telephone that someday people would be able to talk while walking
to work. Nobody thought when Edison invented the phonograph that
we would be able to download music from the Internet on to a
computer the size of a wallet and listen to music while running.
This is all due to the creation of computer
technology.

Soon, robots will be performing surgery, cars will drive
themselves, and each person will no longer have to worry about
pens and paper. As technology advances and we become more like
The Jetsons, people will look back on the 20th century as the age
of Neanderthals. Even though many people in the dot COM
industries have lost their jobs and multiple business have
closed, the demand for technology based companies and workers
still exist. “According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more
than 5.6 million new software engineers, web programmers, optical
networking specialists, programmers, and systems analysts will be
needed by 2006.”

So where will technology go from here? The possibilities
are endless, whether it be a pilot less plane, an retina scanner
to access an ATM, a robot that cleans peoples homes, there is one
thing for certain, if somebody can dream it up, there will be a
Bill Gates to turn that dream into a reality. While the future is
unclear, the present is crystal clear. Everyone in one-way or
another has been bitten by the computer bug. Moreover, as a
people, we are impatiently waiting to see the future will hold.
So, hold on to your mouse and wait to get e-mail.